Al Gore's Assault on Town Hall

To be fair to Al, Earth in the Balance got him persistently ridiculed on the campaign trail in '92 as yet another enviro-wingnut, so I'm not surprised he wasn't leading with his green chin in 2000, though that certainly was part of his campaign. Here's Al in 1999:

Today's announcement that 1998 was the warmest year on record is yet more evidence that global warming is real. Across America -- indeed, across the globe -- the extreme weather of the past year offered vivid proof of what our leading scientists have been telling us for some time: our climate is changing. The withering drought, deadly heat waves and devastating floods were a sobering taste of what future generations will endure unless we take steps to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.

Where'd you hear that, MVB, the radio? Point taken, though. Gore's 2000 campaign wiki page includes a healthy environmental section:

Environment

* Dedicating part of the expected budget surplus to create a new National Energy Security and Environment Trust Fund

* Protecting forests, rivers and public lands so that families have places where they can hike and climb, and experience nature first hand

* Ensuring that the nation's air and water are cleaned up

* Encouraging smarter growth and more livable communities so every community can grow according to its own values, in a way that preserves its own precious character

* Investing more in conservation, renewable energy and in fast-growing technologies that combat pollution

* Taking steps - not just in this country, but everywhere in the world - to reverse the rise in global warming

* Give consumers a tax credit up to $6,000 for the purchase of more fuel-efficient cars or SUVs

* Provide a tax credit up to $5,000 for the purchase of fuel efficient pick-ups or other trucks, and up to $15,000 for more fuel-efficient 18-wheelers

* Provide consumers with a tax credit up to $2,000 to purchase energy-efficient new homes or to upgrade the efficiency of their current homes

* Extend a 20 percent tax credit to businesses for the purchase of energy-efficient building equipment

* Help low-income families save money by helping them insulate their homes

* Provide additional resources to help state and local governments that have launched their own efforts to help families and businesses reduce energy use

* Gore vowed to clean up air pollution from the dirtiest power plants, called for protecting pristine road less areas in our National Forests and restated his opposition to oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

* Enforce realistic, achievable air quality standards

* Oppose any Congressional actions designed to roll back protections for clean air and clean water

* Make it a priority to protect the country's last remaining wild places.

* Take decisive steps - not only in the US but also in developed and developing nations - to reverse the rise in global warming in a way that creates jobs

* Encourage smarter growth and more livable neighborhoods with measures enabling communities to protect open space and fight traffic congestion

* Oppose all new oil and gas drilling off the coasts of California and Florida - and continue the moratorium on new offshore drilling leases nationwide